Evan, Leah, Kendall, and Arden: Swimming Lessons and VBS

Whew! June has been BUSY!!!

Kendall took swimming lessons again this year. She did a great job, and graduated dolphin part shark at the end of the second week. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Coach Matthews and the HSU swim team. That program is a well-oiled machine. I won't be surprised if we send her back every summer just to sharpen her skills.

Kendall is a water bug and I'm so thankful! Her cautious-but-not-fearful attitude keeps me free from worry anytime we swim. Kendall can now tread water (she called it "trading" water the first time) for about 30 seconds, has a mean (and beautiful) backstroke, and can do a real dive off the diving board. On the day our lessons were rained out at the outdoor pool, we ended up at HSU's indoor pool where Kendall very bravely jumped off the high diving board. I was SO proud of her! I'm not sure I have ever even jumped off a high dive!

We've also been VBS-ing a lot around here!!!

Since our church doesn't do a traditional VBS (more on that in a sec) we let Kendall attend VBS at another local church. She had a BLAST! I'd been seeing the Colossal Coaster theme float around and thought it looked super cute, so when I found out Hickory Grove was using this theme, I was excited Kendall was able to attend. She learned so much and especially loved all the music. We attended a family night at the end of the week where the kids sang four of the songs. Kendall had a ton of fun on stage singing and doing all the motions.

The week after Kendall attended VBS at Hickory Grove, our church offered a VBS sports camp. Basically, it's VBS but instead of crafts and music, the kids rotate to different stations for team-building type games. There is a Bible Study time as well. With so many churches in the area offering traditional VBS, I love that our church does something a little bit different. It is a neat outreach, really. We averaged about 75-80 every night (including workers) and it was a great (tiring!) week.

We also had guests that week!

First, Jackson (my sister's youngest son) came to stay with us for the week. I thought he would really enjoy the sports camp, so I offered for him to come visit. We had so much fun with him here! Even though they are five years apart, Kendall and Jackson play really well together. He is such a sweet kid, so loving and mannerly!

We also had our dear friends Allyce, Henry, and Little Man "A" come stay with us while Scottie was at Super Summer just 20 minutes away. We LOVED LOVED LOVED having them here! Henry has always been so sweet to Kendall and "A" is just darling. He and Arden became buds and we even took him to VBS one night so Allyce and Henry could go worship with Scottie at SS. The nursery workers fell in love with "A" and wanted him to come back! I am really more than thankful for this sweet friendship. Allyce and Scottie are just dear to us for so many reasons. Glad for the time with them!